Currently, applicants' assignee herein provides a commercial phone having both high and low audio speakers, i.e. a push-to-talk (PTT) wireless telephone. The low audio speaker is a transducer toward the upper end of the phone and has industry specifications that the phone has to meet for the maximum sound or audio level emitted therefrom to the user's ear. To this end, the current PTT phone employs audio channeling for releasing excessive sound pressure emitted from the transducer to the surrounding environment to meet the specifications for the maximum audio level for the transducer.
In the current PTT design, there is a front bezel member or housing portion that is secured in place on the main body or brick of the phone that includes the RF communication circuitry, display screen, speakers and key pad for the phone. The brick also has the rear housing portion affixed thereto so that with the bezel housing portion secured in place, the housing portions cooperate to enclose the brick and its associated components and together form the external surface of the phone. The front bezel housing portion includes a window opening that is aligned with the display screen of the phone, and includes audio ports thereabove in general alignment with the phone transducer. The audio channeling is formed on the external surface of the bezel as by recesses therein about the audio ports in cooperation with a transparent lens member attached to the bezel member along the external surface thereof. Accordingly, the lens member is sized not only to cover the window opening in the bezel but also to extend thereabove and substantially to the upper end of the bezel to cover the bezel recesses for forming the audio channels for the phone. In other words, the current PTT phone design requires that the lens member be sized sufficiently large to cover not only the window opening but also the recesses in the external surface of the bezel above the window opening.
One problem with the current PTT phone including the large lens member is that space for graphics on the external surface of the bezel is severely limited as generally the upper third or half of the phone is not available for receipt of graphics thereon. In addition, changing the acoustic pathway with the current phone design requires that the entire bezel be reconfigured as currently the recesses for the audio channeling are formed in the bezel itself Finally, should the lens become loose or ajar in the current phone, audio quality can be significantly compromised as the lens is an integral part of the proper channeling of sound pressure to the user's ear.
Accordingly, there is a need for an electronic wireless communication device having maximized space on its front housing portion for receipt of graphics thereon. Further, an electronic wireless communication device is needed that allows for different sound pathways without requiring different bezel housing portions therefor. Finally, an electronic wireless communication device that maintains sound quality despite any loosening or separation of the lens member from the device would be desirable.